


the worth while fight

by doc_pickles



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Angst to Fluff, F/M, Fix It Fic, Here I Am Trying to Tag Shit Again, a taylor swift lyric for a title again? must be a day that ends in Y, jolex babies, no beta we die like men, post 16x16
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:48:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26786950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doc_pickles/pseuds/doc_pickles
Summary: This is a state of graceThis is the worth while fightLove is a ruthless gameUnless you play it good and right
Relationships: Alex Karev/Jo Wilson Karev
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	the worth while fight

**Author's Note:**

> Hey friends! So I wrote this fic to honor hitting 500 FOLLOWERS on Tumblr! I am so grateful and so thankful to be apart of our Jolex community, because I would not be at this number today without you guys. I’ve truly found a second home in writing these two idiots, I’ve even found some of my closest friends because of this fandom.
> 
> In honor of hitting 500, I’m going to share this little fic I wrote. I was originally planning this to be for our Halloween challenge, but it didn’t end up working for it because I literally word vomited this out in like two hours. But it’s fluffy and it’s a fix it. Thank you guys again so much!!
> 
> PS If you didnt see the Jolex Halloween challenge I'm hosting with odd books on tumblr, check that out!

_Kansas City Children’s Hospital._ The sign in front of Jo feels like it’s screaming at her, the neon lights a warning signal to turn around now before she ruins everything. But she can't, she’d come so far and she wasn’t going to let her nerves get the best of her.

Pushing through the doors, Jo resolutely walks to the reception desk and up to the first nurse she sees. Settling a smile on her face, she asks the question she wishes she’d never have to ask.

“Hi I’m looking for Doctor Karev. Alex Karev… Chief Alex Karev. Please,” Jo tries her best not to seem crazy or stalkerish, she knows she isn’t but her anxiety is soaring as the nurse states her down.

“Do you have an appointment?”

Jo blinks confusedly at the woman. She didn't expect that, hadn’t really got any further than walking through the doors in the scenarios that played through her head on the plane ride here.

“I, uh-,” Jo’s stuttering is interrupted by an all too familiar voice coming from behind the reception desk.

“Jennifer, can you tell Doctor Weller that he has a-,” his eyes meet hers and his voice stops, Jo’s heart beating erratically as she takes in Alex for the first time in almost a year. He looks exhausted, like he hasn’t slept well since he left Seattle, but his eyes shine just as true as always. “Jo. What’re you doing here?”

Her impending answer is cut off by a small cry, Jo’s hands instinctively reaching into the stroller in front of her to unclip the baby and cradle her close to her chest. She can feel Alex’s eyes on her, knows that he’s staring at her, but she can’t be bothered by it as she holds her daughter in her arms.

“Can we talk? Somewhere… private,” Jo’s eyes finally float up to Alex’s face, taking in his eyes that are glued to the little girl she’d just revealed to him. “Alex? Please?”

He snaps back to reality then, telling one of the nurses in front of him to cancel everything else he has planned for the day. Alex steps closer to Jo, grabbing the stroller she’d pushed in and leading her away from the prying eyes of the hospital staff. He leads her into an empty conference room, waiting for her to enter before locking the door and drawing the blinds.

Logically she knows she should start talking, but she can’t. Jo’s standing catatonic, eyes meeting Alex’s as they both stand in silence. She can’t tell if it’s overwhelming anger or the relief of seeing each other again or the elephant in the room, but standing here with Alex does something to Jo that she can’t quite explain.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

As if wanting to join the conversation happening, the baby in Jo’s arms lets a squeal out, tiny hands clawing at her mother's shirt as the squeals turn into cries.

“Sorry I have to feed her, she’ll start screaming if I don’t,” Jo doesn’t know why she feels the need to explain this to Alex, he’s the Chief of a pediatric hospital for god’s sake, but she doesn’t know what else to say. She makes a last minute decision to grab the nursing cover from the stroller before settling into a chair, suddenly feeling the need to hide from Alex. She knows she doesn’t have to, this man was married to her, but things felt different. She settles the baby on her breast finally, sighing in relief that her cries have quieted.

“How old is she,” Alex’s voice makes Jo look back to him, his eyes searching her face desperately.

“Three and a half months,” the answer brings Alex down into the chair across from Jo, hands running over his face in exasperation. “Alex, you-”

“You could’ve called! You could’ve told me Jo! Jesus Christ, after everything we’ve been through,” Alex’s voice booms around Jo, a discontented squeal coming from the baby in her arms. Alex lowers his voice, an expression of sadness overwhelming his features. “Why didn’t you call Jo?”

“You left Alex! You left me all alone and you couldn’t even be bothered to pick up the phone and tell me, you wrote me a pathetic letter,” she knows tears are pooling in her eyes, but she can’t hold them back. She’s been playing this conversation over in her head for months, practicing exactly what she’d say to Alex when she saw him again. But seeing him now, sitting across from him, the words slip out of Jo’s mind. “I was waiting for you to come back home so I could tell you, but you never walked back through the door. You didn’t even ask me if I wanted to come with you. Did you ever think that might’ve been an option? That I would’ve followed you anywhere, Alex?”

The silence that envelops them is tense, Jo realizing that her words had rung true. He hadn’t thought she’d come with him, he’d thought that she’d choose her career and whatever else was in Seattle over Alex and their future. The thought nauseates her, a hand pressing against her mouth as she feels more tears drip down her cheeks.

“You didn’t think I would drop everything in my life to be with you,” Jo’s voice breaks as she stares at Alex, his head in his hands unmoving as he listens to her. “Damn it, you’re so stupid! I’m your _wife_ Alex! That’s what we vowed to each other! I love you! Does that not mean anything to you?”

The baby at her breast unlatches and lets out a loud cry, Jo bringing her up to her shoulder and patting her back gently. The cries don’t lessen though, Jo thinks it’s because she herself is still bawling uncontrollably as she tries to calm her daughter. Alex stands and gestures for her to hand the baby to him, Jo relenting almost too easily. She’s so small in his hands, the sight of Alex holding his daughter for the first time sending Jo into another round of tears.

“It’s okay, it’s alright baby girl, I got you,” Alex’s voice is calm and sweet as he sways back and forth, his own eyes closing as he pats the baby’s back gently. “You’re okay, no need to cry.”

Through her rounds of tears, Jo realizes that she hasn’t told Alex his daughters name yet. She takes a deep breath, wipes at her cheeks, then raises her voice so that Alex can hear her, “Her name is Reese. I’m... I’m sorry I didn’t call but I couldn’t...”

Her resolve to speak ends there, instead Jo looks to Alex who’s staring at her with a look of sadness. He extends his free hand to her, pulling her out of her seat and into his embrace before she has a second to overthink anything. The comfort of being in Alex’s arms again overwhelms her, worry and fear melting away as he holds her tight against him. His other hand still has Reese clutched to his opposite shoulder and the moment feels like a long time coming for Jo.

“I’m sorry, about how I left you and what happened. I know it doesn’t mean much, but I should’ve talked to you and I’m sorry that I didn’t even think of you. And if I’d known...,” Alex pauses, his words halting as he presses a kiss into Jo’s hair. “I’m so sorry Jo. I want to make it up to you, I want to be there for you and Reese. I’ll split time between here and Seattle, I’ll do whatever you want. Just please, let me try. I don’t deserve that from you, but I want to try.”

Jo presses herself into Alex’s shoulder, giving herself a moment to relish in the comfort he’s always brought her before speaking again, “We didn’t just come to visit, Alex. I told you, I’d go anywhere for you.”

She can feel the pause his body takes as he processes her words. Alex leans back, eyes searching her own for any indication that she’s playing some cruel joke on him, “You’re moving? Here? To middle of nowhere Kansas?”

Jo wipes her cheeks once more as she nods, forehead leaving against Alex’s as a small chuckle escapes her lips, “The moving truck is two days out, I couldn’t... we couldn’t stay away from you and I know you can’t leave your other kids. We just decided to make things easier for you.”

The tears that come next aren’t from Jo, but from Alex as he presses his lips to hers. The salty taste of his tears mixes between them as Jo kisses back hungrily, the time and miles that had been between them melting as they come back together. They only break apart when a small burp sounds from the baby still resting on Alex’s shoulder.

“You... you’re beautiful just like your mommy,” Alex coos at the infant, cradling her in his arms as he takes in her features for the first time. “You’ve got my nose though, sorry about that.”

Jo never thought she’d get the scene before her. When she’d read Alex’s letter, she’d thought that she would never see him again, that their daughter would never meet her father. But despite the shit they’d been through, Jo knew at the end of the day that the one thing Alex valued over everything else was his family, the people closest to him. That’s why he’d almost gone to jail for her, why he left Seattle, why he’d stuck by her through everything. They had a long road back, but Jo knew without a doubt that her and Alex would be okay.


End file.
